U.S. military installations are no longer allowing visitors to gain base access using official ID cards from five states -- Illinois, New Mexico, Missouri, Washington and Minnesota -- because those cards don’t comply with federal standards.
Guidance has already been issued by such installations as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Fort Drum in New York, Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, according to miltary.com.
"Effective immediately, residents of these five states can no longer use their driver’s license to get a visitor’s pass," Tom McCollum, a Fort Bragg spokesman said in a release. "Driver's licenses and identification cards issued by these states cannot be used to access not just Fort Bragg, but all federal facilities, to include other military installations."
Nate Allen, a spokesman for the Army, in an email confirmed the changes affect all military installations in the U.S., reported miltary.com.
The changes impact visitors who are attempting to secure a visitor’s pass to the bases using one of the non-compliant state ID cards. Visitors who are accompanied in the vehicle by a Defense Department card holder can continue to access the installations using any state’s driver’s license, said military.com.
At issue is state compliance with the 2005 Real ID Act, which requires states to meet minimum security requirements for their state-issued ID cards such as driver’s licenses.
Accepted forms of identification for granting a base visitor’s pass include a U.S. passport, any official ID card from any of the compliant states, Native American tribal documents and any Defense Department or federal ID card. VA identification cards, however, are not accepted, officials said.
